Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

As one of the most respected coaches in the history of college football, former IUP coach Frank Cignetti nominated Walter Charley for the schools Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his integrity as a coach and as a human being.

Cignetti coached football at Leechburg High School from 1960-65, and during that time Charley was the head coach at Ford City High School.

Cignetti, who had Charley's son on his team at West Virginia University, remembers the elder Charley as a coach who was high on character which was reflected in the performance of his players.

"Walter Charley was an outstanding football coach," said Cignetti recently. "He was also an outstanding individual and a great human being. "His teams didn't always have the best records but judging from the way they played, you knew they were well-disciplined and well-coached."

The groundwork of Charley's coaching success was laid at IUP from 1946-49 when he lettered four times in football and served as lean captain his junior and senior seasons. He was named to the all-conference teams both seasons.

As a 185-pound offensive guard, Charley helped the football team to a 5-3 record. Over the next four years, IUP regained a measure of the prestige it had experienced in the early 1940s, and Charley is credited with ushering in that success.

During his IUP career, Charley put on 31 pounds of muscle and by his senior season he was a 215-pound guard who was described in a 1949 game program as being a "hard hitter."

Prior to enrolling at Indiana State Teachers College, Charley served in the U.S. Navy from 1943-45, seeing action in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1950 and also has postgraduate degree from IUP in 1962 and Duquesne in 1967.

Charley began his coaching career at Blairsville High School, followed by his stint at Ford City for nine years. He spent one more season coaching at New Kensington before entering the field of educational administration.

Charley was a counselor and principal at Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pa., for five years before returning to serve in those sam1 capacities at Ford City until his death in 1980.

An active member of each community in which he lived, Charley belonged to the Kittanning Elks Club, the Masonic Lodge, the Ford City VFIA the First Presbyterian Church in Ford City and the Coudersport Consistory.

Charley was inducted into the Allegheny Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame the following year. He is survived by his wife, Mickie and sons Dave, Doug and Don.